Prima Donnas and Drama Llamas
by bandreeder
Summary: Valerie, a talented young freshman flutist, does not know what to expect when she enters her high school marching band's flute section. Jealous of Valerie's talent, the seniors attempt to destroy her confidence.
1. Band Camp

Chapter 1 - Band Camp

Valerie Blanche heaved the heavy car door shut as she gave her mother a final wave. She gripped her flute case nervously as she stepped inside the high school band room. Being the freshman that she was, this was her first time in this place. She had heard rumors about band camp and some of them caused her to question whether or not she really wished to be a part of marching band. Fortunately, her best friend, Cici, had convinced her otherwise.

_Oh gosh, where is she? _Valerie wondered, bewildered at the swarm of crazy high school band kids. She felt a bit out of place.

As if on cue, Cici strode through the doorway and grinned at her friend. Valerie observed that she was carrying two instrument cases.

"Really, Cici? You bring your oboe with you to marching band?"

"Yeah, Val, I've gotta practice during the lunch and dinner breaks. This thing goes until nine. I'll barely be able to fit a couple of hours in!"

"Oh you poor soul!" Valerie exclaimed, before feeling someone poke her on the shoulder.

She spun around to see Miranda, a clarinet player she had went to middle school with.

"Hey, Valerie! Did you make the youth orchestra?"

Valerie's face fell. "Uhh... No..."

Miranda's jaw dropped. "No? You're kidding, right?"

Valerie sighed. "No."

Miranda shrugged. "Well, it's their loss. You're so much better than everyone who made it! I know it!"

"Thanks," Valerie muttered sheepishly.

She had really wanted to make the orchestra. She knew that although there were three flutes in the orchestra, only one from the previous year had graduated, which left only a single open flute spot. She had auditioned as well as many others, and she had found out that she made first alternate. From the beginning, she had been well aware that it would be between her and Aaron Dash-a sophomore male flutist who had some more experience under his belt. Valerie had heard him audition and knew that he had barely beaten her. However, it still aggravated her terribly.

As if reading her thoughts, Cici chimed in. "It's alright, Val. You're just a freshman. You'll beat him next time. I promise."

"You can't promise me something you don't know!" Valerie protested.

Cici raised her eyebrows slightly. "Oh but I do know!"

"Shh!" an upperclassman hushed from behind the two.

Valerie turned her gaze toward the center front of the band room where the band director was standing with a drum major on either side of him.

The director cleared his throat. "Band, I appreciate your presence here this morning. This will be an excruciatingly difficult couple of weeks for some of you younger folks... But anyway, first things first. My name is Mr. Stilling, and I will be your band director. These are your two drum majors-Peter and Allison. I will begin with the roll call..."

During the roll call, Valerie noticed two girls toward the front, one with a flute and the other with a piccolo. They were both standing, though everyone else was sitting except for Mr. Stilling and the two drum majors. They stood with their chins pointed somewhat at an inclined angle, giving them intimidating auras.

"I hope those two aren't our section leaders!" Cici whispered.

Valerie groaned inwardly.


	2. Feelin' the Love

Chapter 2 - Feelin' the Love

After a full morning of block and endless marching exercises, Mr. Stilling approached drum majors Peter and Allison and informed them that it was sectional time. People needed to receive the show music.

As soon as the band learned that they were doing a show based on _The Lion King,_they let out an enthusiastic roar of approval.

"Just remember," warned Mr. Stilling, "If you don't memorize your music, I will never choose another fun show for you all again!"

Valerie clung to Cici's side as they followed the upperclassmen flutists to sectionals. Her friend was marching flute since she obviously could not march oboe, her primary instrument.

"It's too bad," uttered Cici. "The two I commented on earlier really are our section leaders."

When the flutes and piccolos reached their designated room, the section leader with the flute spoke up.

"Hello, I'm Jennifer and this is Sandy. We're your section leaders for this year, and we are gonna be tough on you if you never shut up, like you didn't in the hallway. Band is serious, and it isn't a place to have fun. Let's introduce ourselves."

The flutes and piccolos spent the first five minutes saying their names aloud and when they reached the freshmen, Jennifer nonchalantly nodded her head, but Sandy stared at Valerie's expensive professional model flute covetously.

"Get a crappier instrument to march with. You don't want _that_to get damaged on the field. I'm appalled you even brought it to band camp," scolded Sandy, combing a strand of her straight blond hair with her fingers.

Valerie blushed. "Yes."

"Okay, so let's take a look at our music," Jennifer said, opening her folder.

Valerie opened her own. So far the music did not appear to be super challenging. It seemed pretty average, but playing it while maneuvering her feet at a quick tempo might be another obstacle.

"Oh! I wish I didn't play piccolo this year!" cried Sandy. "Look at the second movement, Jennifer. There's a flute solo for 'Can't You Feel the Love Tonight'!"

Valerie flipped to the second movement. Sure enough, there was a giant flute solo. _Oh well, _she thought. _I'm sure I won't get it, being a freshman._

"It seems easy, but pretty," Jennifer remarked.

"Too bad it's for flute," continued Sandy. "People won't even be able to hear it from the stands."

Jennifer looked offended. "They'll mic it, you know! Duh!"

Sandy shrugged. "Yeah sure. I bet you're glad you get to play one this year."

At this all of the other members of the flute section rolled their eyes.

"Hey!" It was Cici who spoke this time. "Who says you'll get the solo?"

_Oh crap!_thought Valerie. She jabbed her friend in the side with her elbow.

"Well... I mean, it's always been between me and Sandy for first chair in concert band, so it's not like it should be so difficult," Jennifer explained, smirking.

"Aren't you a freshman?" interrogated Sandy.

Cici stuck up her chin, just like the section leaders had earlier. "Yes, I am a freshman. And I am an oboist, so that automatically labels me as an awesome person. But what I would like to say is that my friend here, Valerie, is a talented young flutist who is capable of this solo just as much as you are. I therefore nominate her to challenge you for this!"

"Cici!" Valerie protested.

"You owe me," Cici replied.

"I-what? Owe you!" Valerie muttered softly. "I'm going to kill you!"

Cici grinned at Valerie's empty threat.

Sandy chuckled. "Wow." She held out the syllable.

Jennifer analyzed Valerie's appearance. "Hmm... Will you play for me?"

Valerie shrugged. She had already decided that she would not care what people thought of her playing unless she was being judged against that Aaron flute guy. She would not let him win again. But playing in front of a couple of senior snobs? No sweat.

She lifted her flute to her face and sucked in a deep, full breath. As she played the piece, she added her own dynamics to the piece, making it sound melancholy and tear-jerking, as if it were the song of someone singing of unrequited love rather than a mutual love scene between two lions. It was if Simba was missing Nala during his years of exile.

And it sounded better this way. Better than it did in the Disney movie.

When she was done, Valerie realized that a lot of the flute and piccolo players' faces had turned somber as a result of the music, yet there was a glow of happiness in every eye. Except for four.

Jennifer was lost for words, but she knit her eyebrows in frustration and looked down.

Sandy stared icily at Valerie. "You went a little sharp on the C."

This whole thing was so ridiculous that Valerie nearly burst out laughing. She bowed in mock reverence. "Forgive me, I will lip it down next time."

Sandy nodded. "I will assure that you do so."


	3. The Cycle

Chapter 3 – The Cycle

Valerie felt a zombie as she tripped on the floor in her house and finally collapsed on her bed. She felt like she had been asleep for no more than five minutes when her cell phone rang and jolted her out of her slumber. She wearily glanced at the caller ID. It was her father.

"Hello?" she mumbled.

"Hey, sweetie! How have you been lately?"

"Great, Dad. Just got back from band camp. How are you?"

"Pretty good. I found this pre-college program at Vanderbilt you might want to do. It's next summer, but it fills up fast, so you would have to sign up now. It's an engineering program I thought you might be interested in."

Valerie sighed. "Dad, thanks, but… no thanks. I really don't want to become an engineer."

"Why not? You would make a great engineer! You're so good in math!"

Valerie continued to repeat the same speech she had given him many times, how she wanted to become a musician. It was in her blood. It was her passion.

"But sweetie," her Dad countered, "The world is full of musical prodigies… and you have little experience compared to any of them. You don't want to be stuck on the streets playing your pipe for a few pennies!"

"It's a flute, Dad. And even if a live in a soggy little box, and I eat a diet of half-eaten Subway sandwiches, and I play music for dimes—I think I could still be happy."

"But, Valerie, you are so intelligent! You don't need to be homeless!"

"Dad!" Valerie's face was turning red with frustration. "If you think I'm so bright, then why don't you have faith in me?"

"It's not that I don't have faith in you, sweetie. It's just that I'm not sure you can do it," her father said.

"That's the same thing!" Valerie exclaimed.

"Think about the summer program at Vanderbilt, will you?"

"Goodbye, Dad!" Valerie yelled.

"Bye, sweetie! Love you!"

"Bye!" Valerie hung up.

As she turned her phone off, deciding that she did not care to speak to anyone else, Valerie considered her relationship with her father. Her parents had filed for a divorce when she was only seven years old, and her father had lived in another state ever since. Right now he lived in Memphis, Tennessee. It was not too far away from where Valerie lived with her mother in the humble town of Maingrove, Virginia (completely made up place), but still Valerie did not enjoy having to spend her entire summer—with the exception of the few weeks of band camp—in a place where she knew nobody except her extended family. Well, at least she coped with it. She just wished that her father was more supportive of her decision to pursue a career in music.

Well, even though Valerie was serious about becoming a professional musician, her father's comments still hurt her a little. She tended to go through a continuous cycle. She would at first feel worthless, like her musical abilities would never amount to anything at all. She would be embarrassed to tell people that she wanted to play flute for a living when she grew up. She was afraid of what they would think. She did not want them to think that she was not talented enough. She was self-conscious of how people thought of her and was afraid to play in front of people.

Then, right before those who knew her best—like Cici—began to worry about Valerie, she would take on a new mind set. This one went like this: _ If I'm not good enough, I'll make myself good enough._ This stage, even though it stemmed from Valerie's original insecurity, it was often this glorious time when the young flutist grew the most, as far as music goes. She practiced harder than she ever had before. She convinced her mom to put more money toward buying longer flute lessons. She used her saved allowance to purchase sheet music, so that she could diversify her repertoire.

Then, the inevitable would come—people would compliment her. At first she would just brush off any positive comments with a bashful "thank you," but after awhile, she started to think, _Wow, maybe I will amount to something after all._ She started to feel more confident about herself. She would not mind playing in public. She was ready to play for the world.

And then, of course, her dad would tell her that music held no future for her, and that she should try engineering. And then comments like that would bring Valerie back to the first stage of the cycle, and she started all over again… and again… and again…


	4. Day Two

Chapter 4 – Day Two

Valerie brushed a strand of sandy blond hair off of her face as she sat in the empty band room reading a book. She was sure that band camp rehearsal began at 7:30, but perhaps she had been mistaken.

On any other day, she surely would have scolded herself for forcing herself to wake up early when she did not have to, but right now she did not mind. Nothing could put her into a sour mood. Tonight Cici was taking her to a Maingrove Symphony Orchestra performance of Tchaikovsky's _Symphony No. 4._ Valerie was greatly anticipating the concert, although she knew that her friend would enjoy it even more, with Tchaikovsky being Cici's favorite composer, and apparently his Fourth had a couple famous oboe solos in it.

But nevertheless, Valerie was still looking forward to the evening. Band camp would _not_ spoil her pleasant mood.

Just then, the band room door swung open. A tall, lanky young guy with dark hair entered carrying a saxophone case. Valerie recognized him as a junior who was saxophone section leader.

Valerie turned back to her book, trying to be invisible. She did not really want to talk to him, but he noticed her anyway.

"Hey, you're here early," he greeted.

"So are you," she muttered.

"Yeah… so, you're a freshman, aren't you?" the boy inquired.

"Yes," Valerie replied curtly, keeping her nose in the book.

"No need to be short with me. What's your name?"

"Valerie."

"Oh, I'm Dylan. Nice to meet you, Valerie. Do you like band camp so far?"

"I don't know," Valerie replied.

Dylan rested his arm around Valerie's chair. _Ew! _thought Valerie. _Why is he doing this? I barely even know him!_

"You should hang around me some. You might enjoy it more," Dylan continued. His face was somewhat close to hers. It was making her very uncomfortable.

As if reading her thoughts, Dylan asked, "Does this make you uncomfortable?"

Valerie nodded and scooted away.

Dylan scooted closer to her again. "You freshmen are so innocent!"

Just then, drum major Peter sauntered in through the door and spotted the two in the corner. "Hey, Dylan! There you go again, flirting with all the freshmen. Why don't you try someone your own age?"

Startled, Dylan jumped up. He gave an awkward, forced laugh and began to converse with Peter.

Valerie raised her head and nodded at Peter. She was grateful for his interference.

Later in the day, in sectionals, Sandy and Jennifer stopped giving drill commands—but still left the flutes at set—while she glanced over at the saxophone section. The entire section was sitting down on the grass, laughing at Dylan while he goofed off.

"They're so lazy!" complained Sandy.

"I know! But Dylan is kinda hot… but he is such a moron!"

"Why again is Mr. Stilling not addressing this?" Sandy asked, referring to the band director who was talking to the drum majors, no more than ten feet away from the saxophones.

Jennifer sighed. "Because Dylan is the band director's favorite. Don't ask me why or how. His tone sucks. All he does is goof off. He is a lame marcher and never keeps his toes up. But for some reason, he's the favorite."

Sandy sighed and turned back to her section. "Valerie, stop looking at the saxophones! Just because we weren't giving you directions doesn't mean you don't have to stay at set! You have to be self-disciplined!"

"Mark four, forward eight, backwards eight. Hup… hup… ready go…"

"Valerie!" Sandy screeched. "Keep your toes up!"

Valerie exaggeratedly dug her heels into the ground, keeping her toes as high as possible.

"Valerie, flute angle! Keep it parallel to the ground!" Jennifer scolded.

"Valerie! Chin up!" yelled Sandy.

"No, Valerie, not that high!" added Jennifer.

Finally outdoor sectionals were over and all of the sections came together to learn drill.

_Great, _thought Valerie. _I have been the only person yelled at in an entire hour of sectionals. Lovely._

Later, when the band was taking a break, Mr. Stilling approached Cici.

"Cecilia Brown?" he asked.

Cici nodded.

"Our oboe player?"

Cici nodded again.

"We need one of you in wind ensemble. Even though we usually don't allow freshmen be in wind ensemble, we don't have an oboist. Would you be willing?"

"Yes!" Cici replied enthusiastically.

_Lucky, _thought Valerie. _I'll be stuck in lame concert band. At least I won't have to deal with Jennifer and Sandy._

"The freshmen guidance counselor is in the guidance office today to get some paperwork done before school starts. Even spring semester is a long ways away, I think it would be wise to go change your schedule now, before your life gets hectic with schoolwork and football games," suggested Mr. Stilling.

"Sure!" Cici agreed, walking off with the band director to the school building, abandoning Valerie.

But she was not alone for long. Soon, she felt a shadow come over her and plop down on the grass next to her.

"You're really good at flute you know," a female voice said.

Valerie looked up and squinted in the sun to see an Asian-looking girl sitting next to her. Valerie recognized her from her flute section.

"Umm… Thank you…"

"You are totally gonna beat Jennifer out of that flute solo. I know it!" the girl assured.

"And you are?" Valerie wondered aloud.

"Liana. And you're Valerie, right?"

"Right," Valerie affirmed.

A few other band kids who appeared to be Liana's friends circled around the two. The group talked and laughed. Valerie felt herself opening up to the group. She had never been this outgoing before, but she enjoyed it.

At the end of the long and sweaty day, Mr. Stilling stood on the drum major's podium to make a few announcements while the band continued to stand at attention, which Valerie thought was highly unnecessary. She did not pay attention. All she could think about was the concert she was about to attend with Cici.

But something at the end grabbed her attention:

"Tomorrow we will select the trumpet, flute, and mellophone soloists."


	5. Jack Johnson, Tchaikovsky, and Boys

Chapter 5 – Jack Johnson, Tchaikovsky, and Boys

After showering and throwing on something pretty, Valerie finally felt better as soon as she slid into the backseat of Cici's father's car.

"Hello, Valerie, how have you been?" Mr. Brown asked, running a hand through his dark brown dread locks.

"Exhausted. You?"

"Quite the contrary. But I'll let you girls rest so you won't fall asleep in the concert hall!"

"Fall asleep while listening to Tchaikovsky's Fourth?" questioned Cici. "Never!" She exclaimed, before shutting her eyes and yawning.

Mr. Brown smiled and popped a CD into his stereo. It was Jack Johnson, of course. Mr. Brown always played Jack Johnson in his car.

Valerie rested peacefully in the backseat until the car pulled up next to the arts center.

"Val, you awake?" Cici nudged Valerie's arm.

Valerie jolted awake. "What? Yes! Let's go."

"Come on!" called Cici, who was now already at the door.

Valerie was closing the car door when Cici had already slipped inside. _Where did she go?_ Valerie wondered as she frantically searched the inside of the building. Finally, as a tall man moved aside, she thought she spotted her friend at the Will Call window. Valerie rushed over to meet her friend when—

"Ow!" Valerie yelped, clutching her throbbing head. She glanced up to see the equally startled and hurt person she had collided with—

No—it could not be—it could not possibly be—

But wait… it was him…

"Hello. It's nice seeing you again," Aaron said with a flashy smile. Valerie felt his penetrating gray eyes blaze on her.

Really? Did he really have to come here and ruin her evening? If only he knew… if only he knew about her father who did not believe in her. She had wanted to make the youth symphony to prove to him that she really was good at her music. But she had not made it, and it was all his fault.

_Come on, _Valerie chided herself. _Now you sound like a sore loser._

Maybe she did, but for some reason running into Aaron made her feel so aggravated… so very aggravated…

"Did I run into you too hard or something?" Aaron inquired, looking concerned. Valerie realized that she still had not acknowledged his presence.

She shook her head. "No," she uttered coolly. She forced herself to give him eye contact—which she had not done all this time—and felt her lips curl into a nervous smile. "Enjoy the show!"

She regretted the eye contact because now she felt his eyes penetrating into hers. It felt like he was reading her thoughts, that he knew more about Valerie than she did about herself. It was just downright creepy.

She peeled her eyes away from his and felt her face go warm. "See you around, I guess," she muttered as she fled to Cici's side, too flustered to even realize that her friend had been standing at the Will Call window for an extremely long time.

Cici gave Valerie a worried look. "Val, they say that there was a mistake when I ordered our tickets, that they had given us seats that were apparently already taken. They refunded my dad's credit card, but I don't _have_ that credit card. I have no money to buy us seats! What do we do?"

"That's stupid!" Valerie spat. "Why don't they just give us different seats?"

Cici threw her hands into the air. "I don't know, Val! I asked the same thing, and they won't do it! They are being really rude about it, too!"

"Well, for heaven's sake, Cici, pitch a fit! You're usually good at bossing people around and getting your way!"

"I tried. They're ignoring me. Ignoring _me!_"

Valerie gasped. _No one_ ever ignored Cici. She drew attention easily. She was convincing to everyone about anything. These Will Call window people must be pretty bad.

Or perhaps they were overreacting… But anyway, that was beside the point.

"You girls having trouble?"

Valerie knew the voice. She kept her head lowered. But Cici, in her devastation, turned to the strange, attractive boy and filled him in on the present situation.

Aaron smiled. _Oh no, not that flashy smile again,_ Valerie complained inwardly.

"I have some extra cash on me. I just played a gig—" _of course, show off._ "—and they paid me pretty good money, plus tips. I can buy you girls a couple tickets."

Cici sighed in relief. "Thank you so much, random stranger of kindness! You have no idea how grateful I am for your sacrifice!"

_Oh my gosh my best friend sounds like an idiot._

When Aaron walked away to purchase the tickets, Valerie grimaced when she looked over at Cici.

"Cici…"

"Isn't this great? Free tickets! Courtesy of an attractive young male who smells nice. And he plays gigs! He must be a musician! A good one!"

"Cici, that is Aaron, my… uh… rival thing."

"Oh? Is that him? Well he seems really nice! I think that you two could become friends. Allies. You could help each other, instead of trying to just beat each other all the time. Besides, you're practically as good as him anyway, it's just that he has a bit more experience than you. Heck, he plays gigs! Maybe if you were friendly and outgoing instead of all awkward and standoffish he could help you find gigs of your own!"

Great. So now Cici was turning over to the dark side.

"Aren't his eyes creepy? How they seem to stare into your soul?" Valerie asked.

"Uh… no, not really. Why? Do you think so?"

"No. Nevermind,"

Aaron returned with the tickets. "Let's go!" he told the two teenage girls, though he seemed to just be looking at Valerie when he said it. She looked away.

Valerie was even more irritated when he slid into the seat next to her. She did not plan this! This was so frustrating!

But when the principal oboist played her A to tune the orchestra, and the lights when dimmed and darkened, and the other instruments—first the strings, then the winds—began to join the A and tune, Valerie immediately felt at ease.

The maestro came onto the stage and picked up his baton. The first movement began.

The symphony was beautiful. Tchaikovsky was a true musical genius. It was magic, but sometimes the magic seemed to make Valerie feel even more uncomfortable, like she was more aware of Aaron sitting next to her. But somehow his presence also made her feel more aware of the music and the beauty of it.

It was just weird.

After the concert was over, and the orchestra had received a standing ovation, and then finally the curtains closed and the lights turned on, Valerie turned to exit the row of seats.

But Aaron was blocking her path. "Miss Blanche, I have listened to you play before, and I have observed you during the concert tonight."

"Umm… okay, that's really freaky. Thanks for the tickets, but let me out now."

"Val! You don't have to be so rude!" cried Cici.

Aaron stood his ground. "I think you are a highly musically intelligent individual. We have something in common. And you are a very interesting person indeed. Quite peculiar. I've never met someone as strange as you. I mean, your friend here is pretty odd, but you… I don't know. You're just… weird."

"Thanks. Is that all?"

"Uhh…"

"May I get out?"

"What I said was not exactly how I meant to word it."

"I think I still get the point."

"Well, you see, what I really mean to say is…"

"What are you trying to say?"

"I'm trying to say that I would like your phone number."

Valerie's jaw dropped.

"I mean," Aaron quickly added, "I would like to have your phone number so we can get together to… practice. I would like to have a friend who I can grow musically with."

Valerie considered it. Practicing with someone did sound fun, but with Aaron… he would be listening and pointing out any flaws. Not that she minded when someone did that, but Aaron… he still was her rival… and he still had called her weird. She knew she was, but he did not have to rub it in.

"Thanks, but no thanks. I'm a really busy person," she answered, before pushing past him to leave.

Valerie sat in the car with Cici's dad, who had yet another Jack Johnson CD on. He was singing along and drumming on the steering wheel when Cici slid into the shotgun seat wearing a smug smile.

What had she been up to?


	6. The Tryout

**Hey! My first author's note! Woo! Yeah, I haven't done one of these yet. Anyway, thank you reviewers! Sorry it's been a few weeks since I posted last but I've been pretty busy. I have a lot of ideas for this story. I would like to finish this one and write a sequel about Valerie's friend Cici. Yes, I'm already planning a sequel…. Anyway, you're probably tired of reading this now so I'm gonna start actually writing.**

Chapter 6 – The Tryout

"Hey, Valerie dear, I have a date tonight. So could you see if you could go to Cici's house after camp?"

Valerie, still half-asleep and exhausted, looked over to find her mother speaking to her.

"Huh? Yeah, sure."

"Thank you! Goodbye, sweetie!" her mom called as Valerie stumbled towards the band room.

_I never see my mom much anymore, do I? _she thought to herself.

Valerie entered the band room to find Jennifer practicing the "Can't You Feel the Love Tonight?" flute solo like a maniac.

Sandy walked towards the other section leader. "What? Are you afraid you won't get it?" she smirked.

Jennifer slipped a strand of hair behind her ear and shrugged. "No. Why would I be?"

Sandy nodded. "Yeah, it's not like anyone else is trying out."

Even from a distance, Valerie could see Sandy silently mouth the word, "Valerie."

Sandy shook her head. "Mr. Stilling wouldn't give the solo to a freshman."

A hand pulled Valerie aside. Startled, she jumped but sighed in relief when she found out it was only Liana.

"You better try out for that solo!" said Liana, shaking a finger in the freshman's face.

Before Valerie could answer, Mr. Stilling stepped up onto the podium and cleared his throat.

"All flute, mellophone, and trumpet solo candidates, please follow me into the auditorium. Tryouts will be blind!"

Valerie furrowed her eyebrows. "Blind?" she inquired to a listening Liana. "Why would it be blind?"

"Because we have three really talented, competitive trumpet players who make it really difficult for Mr. Stilling to choose one soloist."

Valerie nodded. "Oh."

Liana lightly slapped her shoulder. "Well don't just sit there, girl! Go out and conquer the world!"

Valerie timidly followed behind the train of solo candidates into the auditorium, making sure that she remained a safe distance away from Jennifer. Her stomach knotted. She was exhausted no more, since her nerves had waked her up with a jolt.

Valerie in the back of the auditorium as the mellophones went first. They was one really excellent player, a couple so-so ones, and the last person seemed really brave to even try out. It was obvious who the soloist would be. Then came the trumpets. There were only three contestants, since no one dared compete against them. Valerie's mind was blown as she listened to every single one. How in the world could Mr. Stilling possibly decide? It was beyond her.

The entire time, Jennifer had not said a word to her freshman opponent. Not a single word. She did not even acknowledge her presence for that matter.

Valerie glanced at her watch. After the trumpets, Mr. Stilling had so far taken at least twenty minutes to rate choose a trumpet player.

At last the room monitor, Peter, appeared out from under the cloth that hid the reluctant judge.

"Flute solos… Who's first?"

When neither girl said a word, Valerie decided she might as well stand up and go first.

"Umm…" she whispered softly, as not to give her identity away to Mr. Stilling in the echo-y auditorium. "I guess I can."

Peter nodded. "Alrightie then; follow me."

Valerie followed the senior drum major to the center of the stage. She stood there silently with her flute to her lips for a few seconds. She glanced at Peter and saw him nodding at her.

Valerie sucked in a deep breath of air and began the solo. It was a little quiet at first, out of nervousness and her not being used to the auditorium, but after the first two notes, she felt a sudden peace come over her, and she let her flute sing.

Oh, and did she let her flute sing. The beauty of each phrase rang through the auditorium. Every note was like a drop of honey on the tongue. It was a taste that was desired to linger, but as it disappeared a new one appeared. It was gorgeous.

But how was Valerie—cranky, PMSing, perfectionist Valerie—supposed to know that? She did not. So as her solo came to a close, she hung her head and walked off. She felt defeated. The beginning was way too timid! She'd rather screw up anything else—anything but the beginning.

"That was really good," encouraged Peter.

Valerie nodded but continued to walk away. Of course he would tell her that, but that did not mean he meant it. _He's only telling me that to make me feel better about it,_ she decided.

She did not look at Jennifer. All she did was leave.


	7. Results

**Again, thank you for all the reviews. I am glad to finally have the time to write more. **

Chapter 7 – Results

Valerie walked into the band room to hear the B flat concert scale being played, with Allison warming everyone up. She went and stood next to Cici, who could not move because she was at set. But Valerie knew that Cici—as well as every member of the flute section—was burning with anticipation to hear how well Valerie did in the audition.

Jennifer entered the band room. She came and stood to the far left of the flute line, to the right of the piccolos. Valerie tried not to focus on her nemesis's expression. She did not want to know how well Jennifer did. She would just have to wait for Mr. Stilling to announce the results.

A few minutes later, Mr. Stilling entered, with Peter at his side. The two appeared to be talking in hushed voices. Mr. Stilling was frowning. Allison finished the warm-up exercise she was on before stopping the band.

Mr. Stilling shook his head. "Continue, Allison. We'll be ready in a minute," he said, before going with Peter into the director's office.

The band continued to warm up, though not whole-heartedly. There was tension in the air between the sections that had potential soloists. Valerie brushed it off, putting on an air of nonchalance, and buried herself in the arpeggios.

After what felt like a millennium, Peter exited, with Mr. Stilling remaining in the office.

The senior drum major cleared his throat. "Umm… Mr. Stilling wanted me to announce the soloists. First off, I wanted to thank all who auditioned, and I hope you all remember that this was just the result of one particular passage of a marching band show—and does not reflect a person's playing abilities as a whole…"

Insert dramatic pause.

"….Mellophone solo: Amy Roberts…. Trumpet solo: Alex Parker…."

There were murmurs throughout the trumpet section.

"Quiet everyone!" Allison ordered.

Peter cleared his throat again before continuing. "And flute solo: Valerie Blanche."

Sandy and Jennifer stared at one another in horror. Then they began to whisper, glancing at their least favorite freshman every so often.

Liana, Cici, and a couple other flutes gave Valerie high fives. It boosted her confidence slightly, until she turned back towards her section leaders.

She had the feeling that she would be in for a _long_ marching season.

* * *

><p>An hour and a half had been devoted to running through the final sets of the first movement. Not the music, just the sets.<p>

"Okay! Back to set fourteen one more time to the end of the opener!"

_One more time, _thought Valerie. _Okay, I can do that._

Mr. Stilling shook his head. "No!" he bellowed. "I keep telling you, clarinets, this is _not _a diagnol—it's a curve! Go back and do it again! Last time."

Groans permeated the hot July air as a bunch of angry band kids went back to set fourteen.

"Good clarinets… but altos, this isn't right. Go back. This is the last time, I promise."

"Okay, good everybody! Let's see if we can do it again for good measure. Go back and do it one more time, then you can get some water!"

"Guys, that was excellent! I wanna see that happen again! Let me see it once more."

"Great! Now put it with the music!"

"Okay guys, I think it was okay but—well, okay. You get ten minutes."

The band kids cheered and ran for the sidelines. Water!

Valerie, Cici, and a bunch of their new friends gathered in a circle.

"You beat Jennifer?" asked Amy, the junior who had received the mellophone solo.

"Apparently," said Valerie, shrugging.

"That is awesome, girl! You must be, like, a prodigy! You take private lessons, right?"

"Yeah," replied Valerie.

Just then Valerie's water bottle was kicked over. Luckily, the lid was on.

"Hey!"

"Sorry!" Dillon apologized, briefly locking eyes with the flutist before running back to continue his water fight with the rest of the saxophone section. Amy rolled her eyes.

Cici inched closer to Valerie. "I think he likes you."

"Who, Dillon? Because why? He nearly mauled me? And somehow that means he likes me?"

"No, not with this particular instance, but with everything. He stares at you a lot. And when we were practicing fundamentals, he always makes an effort to stand next to you in block."

"She does have a point," agreed Amy. "I've noticed it too."

"Well whatever. It's not like I have any interest in him. He is immature, and he is a saxophone, though I think the two might go hand in hand," said Valerie, taking another swig of her water.

Cici grinned. "Oh yeah, that's right. How could I forget? You like that one hot flute player guy."

"He has a name you know."

"Really?" asked Amy, butting in. "Who is it?"

Valerie blushed. "No one you would know."

"Aaron, isn't it?" asked Cici. "Aaron Dash? Dash the Dashing?"

"Dash the Dashing?" inquired Amy. "That's cute."

"Dash the Dashing is stupid!" snorted Valerie. "And no I am not attracted to him! I know him on a musical basis, and that is all."

"Oh, well try to tell him that! You know he asked for your phone number."

"Yeah. That's just because he wanted to practice with me!"

"Ooh!" cried Liana, who had been eavesdropping on the entire conversation. "He wanted to 'practice' with you. That sounds dirty."

"No it doesn't! He was being serious! He is a really good flute player and thinks that practicing together would benefit the both of us musically. Seriously, guys! Don't you believe me? Besides, I didn't even give him my phone number. I prefer to practice by myself. I did not give him my phone number, so don't worry about me 'practicing' with anybody!"

An awkward silence fell.

Cici giggled. "You might not have given him your phone number, but that doesn't mean that _I _didn't…"

"You—"

"Come one guys!" called Mr. Stilling. "Let's work on the second movement!"


	8. Double Dating

**Yeah guys I'm on a roll. Here's another chapter for you all! Oh and don't be afraid to review and suggest. Oh and I don't mind if you give me ideas for what to include in the story. I haven't run out yet, but if any of you guys think of a neat twist of some sort, don't be afraid to speak up!**

* * *

><p><span>Chapter 8 – Double Dating<span>

Laughs erupted in the car of Mr. Brown as he drove his daughter and her friend to his house after band camp. Valerie was excited to spend the night at her friend's house that night. And it didn't help that after rehearsal was over, the band parents brought buckets full of sodas for the thirsty band kids. Both girls had grabbed a couple cans of Mountain Dew, and it was starting to get a bit scary.

As Valerie turned her phone on, she realized that she had a text message from an unknown number.

_Hey this is aaron. This valerie?_

Valerie turned to look at Cici, who was currently being distracted by the sheet music for Marcello's Oboe Concerto. Valerie texted a reply before saving the number to her contacts.

_Ya._

_You doing anything this friday night?_

Cici thought for a moment. Friday was the last day that rehearsals lasted only until 4:30. After this week, band camp was until nine every day. If it was Friday _night, _then it should be okay to go with Aaron… if she really wanted to, that was.

_Not that I know of._

Cici looked up from her music. "Oooh, is that Aaron? Did he finally reach you?"

Valerie sighed. "Yes, Cici, it is. Go back to your music."

Cici suppressed a grin and pretended to be engrossed in the second movement of the Marcello.

_Would you like to go to a DCI competition with me? The Cavies will be there. I can pay for your ticket._

Hmm…that did sound fun. Valerie had never actually been to a DCI competition before. She had watched many drum corps groups on YouTube, but never had seen them in real life.

"Cici, he's asking me if I want to go to a DCI completion with him Friday night. He says that the Cavies will be there."

"Oh, that sounds so fun! I wish I could go! But it's not like there will be any woodwind instruments…but still…"

_Okay_

_Okay what?_

_I can go_

_Alright pick you up at 5_

That wouldn't give Valerie much time to take a shower after band camp. But then again, she would be sitting on a hot bleacher for several hours, probably with a bunch of other band kids who just got out of camp and didn't have time to shower either. Oh well.

* * *

><p>It was an obnoxious day in the band room Friday morning. After learning all the sets to the short second movement, the band would be putting music to it today. No one wanted to be scolded for not memorizing it, so everyone was cram practicing. All Valerie heard was chaos.<p>

Dylan approached her. "Hey…" his words were lost in the tumult of noise.

"WHAT?" yelled Valerie, struggling to hear even herself.

Dylan repeated himself. Again Valerie could not hear.

"WHAT?"

Again the same situation occurred. It was hopeless.

"SURE!" exclaimed Valerie. It was what she always did when she became tired of making people repeat themselves. Ninety-percent of the time the person walked away pleased.

Seemingly luckily, this was the ninety percent.

* * *

><p>It was lunch break. Cici had stuffed herself in a practice room so she could play oboe. Valerie was sitting with Liana, Amy, and Amy's boyfriend—a trombone player named Patrick. They were chatting in the band room, eating Cheetos, when a rail-thin black girl strode over to them. Valerie recognized her as a junior bari sax player named Emma. Valerie remember laughing when she saw the tiny girl hauling around the instrument that was bigger than she was.<p>

"You're going out with Dylan to the movies?" she inquired.

"What?"

"Dylan says he's taking you to a movie tonight," Emma repeated. "He's a senior and you're only a freshman! I hate it when he does that! He always comes on to a freshman, every year. He's a man whore, and I wouldn't like him if I were you."

"I never said that I would go to a movie with him. I don't even remember him asking me!"

"Well, girl, he said he did. And he said you said yes."

Suddenly Valerie remembered what had occurred earlier in the day, when she could not hear what Dylan was asking. He must have asked her out to the movies.

"Hold on," she told Emma. "Let me clear this up." She left her circle of friends and walked over to Dylan, who was sitting with all his fellow sax buddies.

"Dylan, I—"

"Hey, what movie do you want to see?"

"Actually, Dylan, I wanted to tell you…"

Dylan's smile faded. He looked pitiful. Even though he was annoying, and Valerie was not attracted to him, seeing him let down made her feel guilty. Suddenly she had an evil plan.

She continued. "I wanted to tell you that I forgot that there was a DCI competition tonight. And I was supposed to go see it with Cici and her boyfriend. If you want though, you could come to this instead of a movie."

Dylan's face lit up again. "Okay, sounds like fun!"

Valerie gave a weak smile. Cici might be a little ticked… but, hey, she did say she wished she could go to the DCI competition…

Valerie pulled out her phone and texted Aaron.

_Hey is it alright if Cici and her boyfriend come double dating with us tonight?_

_Fine with me._

What had Valerie gotten herself into? She was supposed to go on a date with two guys at the same time! Worse than that, she thought it would work. Stupid freshmen.

**Not really though, freshmen, so don't take offense. I really do love you all. 3**


	9. Competition

Chapter 9 – Competition

Valerie and Cici stood outside the band room waiting for Dylan to finish his conversation with Mr. Stilling. At the last minute, Valerie had texted Aaron to tell him that they would be "double-dating" with Cici and her "boyfriend" and since Cici's "boyfriend" had gone to her school, he would be driving the two girls and they would meet Aaron at the DCI competition.

The two girls were not speaking to one another. Valerie's face was twisted in anxiety and Cici just wore a sour expression.

Finally Cici broke the silence. "I still can't believe you're this! What if one of them tries to make a move on you?"

Valerie laughed nervously. "Neither of them will. I haven't known either Aaron of Dylan for very long at all."

Cici raised her eyebrows incredulously. "Valerie, this is high school. Besides, I can't believe you're setting _me _up to this! How am I supposed to act like I'm dating both of them but make it appear to each one that I'm just dating the other? How are _you _even going to do it?"

"I don't know," admitted Valerie, trying not to show the distress she felt. "But it will all work out. Trust me. Let's just act like a big group of four friends hanging out. I'm not in a serious relationship with either Dylan or Aaron, so I won't have to act all romantic and such. And you can just hang out and be yourself and be equally friendly to both of them. I'll do the same."

"Sure, Val. But if anything goes wrong, I refuse to take the blame."

"I never asked you to," Valerie muttered.

Dylan exited the band room with a boyish grin on his face. "Ready?"

When they arrived at the stadium where the competition was taking place, Valerie spied Aaron sitting on a bench, patiently waiting. His stormy gray eyes were a contrast against the rather cloudless blue sky.

He approached the trio that had just stepped out of the car. "Well, hello!" he called. He stopped in front of Valerie and looked at her warmly.

Dylan shifted uncomfortably. "Umm…. Hello, I'm Dylan. I'm a senior saxophonist at Maingrove High School. Nice to meet you!" He stuck out his hand.

Aaron grinned and shook it enthusiastically. "Nice to meet you, Dylan. My name is Aaron Dash, and I'm a sophomore flutist at Brown Oaks High School."

"Oh, you go to our rival school. And wait a minute, you're one of those male flute players and you're not…." Dylan slapped a hand to his mouth as his face reddened, not intending to speak his thoughts.

"Gay?" Aaron finished for him. Instead of being offended, he chuckled heartily, as if this were a common mistake. "Nope. Many of the greatest flute virtuosos in the world are male, and they have wives and families. I don't see the flute as a feminine instrument, just a beautiful one. But just because something is beautiful, it doesn't have to be feminine. But, as you can certainly see, I am obviously straight."

Relieved, Dylan smiled. "Let's go hear some real marching bands!" he yelled, racing towards the stadium to the ticket counter.

"But how are the real marching bands when they have no woodwinds?" Valerie inquired.

Aaron sighed. "True. But we woodwinds get all the limelight in the orchestral repertoire. This is their chance to shine. Besides, it's DCI. They're beasts, even without us. Here, I already bought your ticket."

Valerie pocketed the ticket.

"I bought you a ticket!" Dylan called as he sprinted back toward the group. He was speaking to Valerie, but being far away, Aaron probably thought he was talking to Cici.

By the time Dylan had come back to the group, Aaron had already started to walk towards the stadium. Valerie inconspicuously took the ticket from him. She waited until none of the boys were looking, then she slipped a ticket to Cici.

Valerie was too amazed to know that the hours had slipped by quickly. The sky was dark now. The last corps she had seen was the Academy, and she thought they had looked and sounded amazing.

"They're gonna win," she stated to her friends.

Aaron smiled. "Just wait until you see who's up next."

Valerie watched as the Cavaliers took the field. She had heard that they were good, but she couldn't imagine them being better than the Academy.

And that was when she had the breath knocked out of her. From the first note of the opener, they were astounding.

Both visually and musically, they were awe striking. She wanted to hear more, wanted to see more. But before she knew it, they were marching off the field. Valerie rose to her feet and clapped, cheering on the top of her lungs.

"Oww!" Cici said to Valerie, covering her ears.

Dylan grinned. "The Cavies are undoubtedly the best!"

Aaron shook his head. "No, the best is yet to come. Wait until you see Phantom Regiment, Valerie."

"Phantom is good, but the Cavies are still better," argued Dylan.

Aaron turned to him, and the two boys were soon involved in a heated argument.

"Stop yelling!" a grumpy Cici ordered. "The Blue Devils are the best! But they're not here, so I'd have to say that I'd be in favor of Phantom."

And soon she was caught up in the angry argument.

Valerie sighed and stared off into the field as the Phantom Regiment marched on.

At the end of their glorious show, she secretly agreed with Aaron. Phantom was the best.

She turned to find Dylan staring at her. "Did you enjoy tonight?" he asked.

Valerie nodded. "Did you?"

"Of course," he replied. The next thing that happened was completely unexpected. Before Valerie could object, Dylan leaned in to kiss her. It was just a quick peck on the lips, but Valerie was still taken aback.

"Dylan, I… we just met. Did you really have to—"

Valerie stopped short. She saw Aaron staring right at her. He had a hurt look in his eyes. Valerie's heart dropped. "Look, I can explain—"

"What's there to explain?" asked Dylan, sincerely quizzical.

"Nothing," grumbled Aaron. "There is nothing to explain. Nothing at all."

And with that said, he turned and raced down the stadium.

"Aaron!" Valerie went after him. But when she passed the concessions, all she saw was the headlights of a car that was leaving.

She stood there for a few minutes, processing all that happened.

_How could I be so stupid?_ That was her first thought. Her second thought was, _Why do I even care?_

"May I help you?" asked the kind lady at the concessions.

Valerie smiled politely. "No thank you." She left and slowly trudged up the stadium steps.

She was afraid of how Dylan would react when she reached the top, but instead, she saw him laughing with Cici, no harm done. He turned to Valerie with a wild grin.

"You just seemed so sweet an innocent! I didn't think you capable of doing something like this."

Valerie stared at him, confused.

"You two-timed us right beneath our noses, and it would have worked, too, had I not kissed you."

A deep blush swept over Valerie's cheeks. "Sorry, I didn't mean—"

Dylan raised his hand up, signaling her to stop. "I know, Cici told me that you hadn't meant to say yes to my offer to begin with." His smile faded, then he continued, "I'm sorry I kissed you earlier. It was inappropriate of me."

"It's okay," Valerie assured. "I'm sorry about…everything."

"It's alright. I know you don't know me very well. I'm a senior and you're a freshman, and you're not the type of freshman who would date a senior. And I know it probably seems weird to you since I'm what is known as a 'man whore' and you're so sweet and innocent—"

"Please stop calling me that," Valerie interrupted.

"I'm sorry. But I was attracted to you, not just to your looks, but I admired your personality, too. I liked how you are so much better than all the flutes, yet you manage to carry a humble pride about it. And I know that seems like an oxymoron, but I don't know how else to say it. I admire how you treat people, and how you ignore Sandy and Jennifer when they try to mess with you. I just wanted to get to know you better, and whenever I've just tried to 'get to know' a girl, we always somehow ends up more than just friends. But you were different. I really admire you."

Valerie smiled. Despite Aaron's sudden departure, this was really lifting her mood. She now saw the saxophone section leader in a different light. "Dylan…I'm flattered that you respect me so much. Maybe we could just try to be friends. I really like you as a person, and it's not that I wouldn't date you…it's just…"

"You like Aaron?" Dylan finished.

She shook her head. "Honestly, I really don't know if I do or not. The point is, I respect you as a person. And sure, we can hang out any time we want—as friends."

Dylan smiled again. "Sure, Valerie."

"So, I wasn't here when they announced awards. Who won?"

"Who do you think?" Cici asked.

"Phantom Regiment?"

Dylan groaned. "You people make me sick."

"Well did they win?" Valerie asked.

"Of course they did," affirmed Cici. "But that is only because the Blue Devils weren't here."

Valerie rolled her eyes. "Yeah of course it is."

As they left the stadium, Valerie stopped to purchase a Phantom Regiment T-shirt. As she stood in line, Cici nudged her.

"What are you gonna do about Aaron?"

"I don't know," said Valerie truthfully. "I don't think that there is anything I _can _do. He doesn't know me well, and he probably won't want to speak to me at all."

"Valerie?"

She looked behind her, to see that the person standing behind her in line was definitely someone she did not want to see—Jennifer.

"So, I see you and Dylan are making fast friends," she said with a hint of scorn in her voice.

Valerie gave her a wicked smile. "Yep. We get along great!"

"Who was the guy you were with earlier?"

Valerie frowned. She didn't want to talk about Aaron. "Oh, just someone I met who goes to Brown Oaks High School."

Jennifer skeptically raised an eyebrow. "Rival school, eh?"

"Apparently," Valerie said with a shrug. "Well, see you around, I guess." She paid for her T-shirt and strode away as fast as she could, Cici on her heels.


	10. Feeling Blue

Chapter 10 – Feeling Blue

The old Artley flute felt foreign in Valerie's hands as she warmed up on it. She wasn't used to not having open holes. Everything about it was strange.

Earlier that week her private instructor had told her not to use her professional Yamaha model flute for marching band, but rather to get a cheap, crappy one for the season and revert back to the good one for concert band. Her mother had planned on renting Valerie one, but they had stopped at a garage sale to find an antique Artley for just fifteen bucks. Valerie played it at the sale and there had not seemed to be anything wrong with it, surprisingly. None of the pads even needed replacing.

The drum majors called everyone to concert formation and then to attention. After playing through a few long tones and warm-ups, the band dispersed into sectionals. Valerie scanned her section mates only to find the two leaders missing. She found both of them at Mr. Stilling's side, talking to him.

Valerie plopped down next to Cici, who was already sitting. She rubbed the dark circles around her eyes.

"You didn't get any sleep last night, did you?" Cici inquired.

Valerie shook her head. "I feel really bad."

"It was just a misunderstanding. He'll get over it. He's crazy about you," Cici assured.

"But what if he doesn't?"

Her friend shrugged. "Then you won't have to deal with him anymore."

Valerie was silent.

A smile struck Cici's sunburned face. "You _do _like him, don't you?"

"I never said that. I just—"

"I knew it!" Cici exclaimed.

A deep voice bellowed, "Valerie."

She turned to see Mr. Stilling motioning to her. Sandy and Jennifer were standing at his sides, arms crossed.

Valerie sighed. "Well, guess I better see what that's about."

As she approached Mr. Stilling, she noticed a weary, dreadful look on his face. As if Sandy and Jennifer were starting to tire him.

"Valerie, I'm sorry we have to do this, but since you have a different flute, we don't know if that will affect the solo in the second movement. We have to redo the tryouts."

Valerie thought she could detect a slight eye roll from her band director. "Will they be blind?" she asked.

"No, we don't have that much time. We will just have it right here in my office. Sandy, you can go take the flutes and piccs into sectionals right now. Jennifer and Valerie, in here."

Once situated, Jennifer offered to go first this time. It was really the first time Valerie had heard the section leader play by herself before. Jennifer had always had an imperious attitude that seemed to scream, "I'm better than you noobs," so Valerie had always seemed to assume that Jennifer was a superb musician. But now when she heard her play, it wasn't that Jennifer was necessarily bad, or even average, but she wasn't necessarily amazing either. She was good for a high-school flautist, but not for someone who would plan on being serious about music. She hit every note precisely in tune, but her tone wasn't outstanding. It wasn't at all airy, but it didn't sound dark and open either. And the dynamic contrast was present but minimal.

Finally it was Valerie's turn. She felt conscious of Jennifer's eyes hammering into her, as well as Mr. Stilling's. _Just breathe,_ she instructed herself. _You're not Valerie Blanche. You are the music. Just breathe. Just play. Let your flute sing._

Valerie played her solo the way she always played it. Even though her tone on the Artley wasn't as good as her tone on the Yamaha, it was still pure and dark and open and better than Jennifer's. But even though she wasn't playing on her concert flute, she still felt this was her best run-through of the solo. It was incredible.

The solo was finished. She slowly removed the flute from her lips. Mr. Stilling just nodded unemotionally.

"Okay, Valerie, just continue playing the solo. Off to sectionals, you girls." He slid into his desk.

Jennifer left sort of hurriedly, but Valerie turned back before exiting the band director's office.

He smiled at the freshman prodigy and winked.

* * *

><p>It was lunch break. Valerie stared at her phone. No text messages had arrived. She had sent one in the morning apologizing.<p>

"That's it," she said to herself. "I'm just gonna call him."

She called him. The phone rang. And rang. And rang. No reply.

"Hello, this is Aaron. Sorry I am unavailable to take your call right now. Please leave a message and I will try to get back with you later. Bye. BEEP!"

"Aaron, this is Valerie. Look, I'm really sorry for what happened last night. I said yes to you first, and then I accidentally said yes to him too and I didn't mean to. It was an accident, but it's my fault and I'm sorry."

She hung up, tears streaming down her cheeks.

* * *

><p>Valerie's were still red and puffy when she returned to the field to march. She tried to hide it, but whenever she tried to contain the tears they just burst out even more. She hated it. It just meant that swarms of her friends came up to put her arms around her and ask, "Are you okay?" and she'd just have to say, "Yes," even though it was obvious she wasn't okay because if she was okay then why would she be crying?<p>

Sandy joined the swarm with a mock sad expression on her face. "We keep telling you, Valerie, Dylan is a man-whore. Only insecure freshman girls get involved with him in the first place. Or did he get you pregnant?"

"Will you shut up?" Cici said, stepping in. "It doesn't even have to do with Dylan. And Valerie never even dated or liked him in the first place."

Liana cast Cici a scared, warning look, but the loyal friend stood her ground.

Sandy smiled slyly. "Oh, that's right, there was that one hot guy from Brown Oaks who you're so into. Jennifer told me all about it! How you blushed whenever he leaned over to talk to you and after Phantom Regiment performed, he stormed out of the bleachers, and you chased after him like a sad, kicked puppy. Ahh! Teenage romance!"

By this point Valerie had turned her face from Sandy so she wouldn't see the tears of frustration she was now shedding.

"Sandy," Cici growled. She threw her arm back and made a fist and aimed, but at the last minute Amy the mellophone player pushed the infuriated oboist aside.

"Really, Cici, it is best for yourself if you don't get kicked out of band. But Sandy, please walk away or I will get Mr. Stilling to intervene."

Liana bit her lip, obviously frightened of what Sandy would do next.

Sandy gave Amy a puzzled look. "Geez, I was just going to try to console Valerie. You are just such a big, overprotective bunch. Sor-ry!" She patted Valerie on the back before sauntering away.

Valerie wiped off her back from where Sandy had patted it. "She makes me sick," she muttered.


	11. The Copy Room

**Hey guys, I'm back! Sorry for taking forever to update—I've been super busy. Anyway, I hope you enjoy this next chapter!**

Chapter 11 – The Copy Room

"Hey, Valerie, ready for tonight?"

The freshman flutist spun around to see Dylan. "Umm—"

"Valerie! Good heavens, you look so pale!"

"Sorry, I'm just a little nervous." It was the night of the first football game of the season, and it was a home game against Brown Oaks High School. Usually Maingrove and Brown Oaks didn't play against each other until homecoming, but this year was different. Spirit week had been much earlier and there had been three pep-rallies, which Valerie didn't mind. She liked the stand music. The whole school had been gearing up to play against its rival.

"Nervous?" Dylan scoffed. "What for? You'll be terrific! Your solo is amazing. I think you might be the best flute player Maingrove has ever had."

Valerie smiled bashfully. "Thanks, Dylan, but that wasn't why I was nervous."

Sandy, Jennifer, and Jennifer's boyfriend—a sousaphone player—strode into the band room. To Valerie's relief, they seemed to be absorbed in something else. That was another reason Valerie was thankful for spirit week; the excitement had seemed to rub off on them and they seemed to be pleasant-ish during sectionals.

Dylan cocked his head. "Why are you nervous then?"

Valerie shook her head. "Never mind."

"Oh!" Dylan said in realization. "It's because—"

"Dylan!" Valerie whispered, motioning with her eyes over towards the only other people in the band room.

"Right," Dylan replied in a whisper. "So, I don't see why you need to worry though, Valerie. Sure, he's a great guy and you don't have to go around denying your attraction to him, but if he doesn't forgive you for something as silly as the stunt you pulled at the DCI competition, then you deserve better."

Valerie sighed, "I know." The two band members remained in a comfortable silence for a while. Valerie was pondering everything she would say to Aaron tonight when she saw him and if she received the chance to talk to him. And Dylan was pondering… well, whatever Dylan was pondering.

Suddenly the band director's office opened. "Dylan, Valerie, want to do me a big favor?"

"What is it?" called Dylan.

"I've got a new stand tune. Could you copy everyone's parts? It's usually a drum major's job, but they've worked hard all week and I want to give them a break."

"And so we haven't worked hard all week too?" joked Dylan.

"Of course—everyone has worked hard all week! I'm very pleased. I was just going to ask if you could copy this music, that's all."

Dylan chuckled. "Aye, aye Mr. Stilling." He saluted. "C'mon, Valerie."

Valerie followed him into the back room that was behind Mr. Stilling's office. "I don't know how to work a copy machine," she muttered.

"It's easy, and I can show you," Dylan replied.

As soon as Dylan and Valerie were comfortably making copies, Mr. Stilling peeked in.

"Hey, guys," the band director greeted. "I'm gonna go drop something off at the office. You guys got this?"

Dylan saluted again. "Aye, aye."

Mr. Stilling put his thumbs up. "Okay," he said before turning to leave.

Valerie gasped. "The copy machine just ate the music!"

Sure enough, the copy machine wouldn't let go of the second trumpet part of the original of the stand tune.

"Crap. Let me see it." Dylan pushed Valerie out of the way and kept pressing buttons on the copy machine. He pounded his finger on a button. "Maybe if I keep pressing it, it will start working again."

Valerie sighed. "You are obviously no techno-whiz, are you?"

"Can't say I am. But it still might work, right? Trial and error."

"Dylan," Valerie said matter-of-factly, "Trial and error isn't pressing the same button over and over hoping you'll get a different result. That's just gonna freeze up the machine."

The copy machine began to make strange noises. Dylan took his hands off of it. "Well, excuse me. I was unaware that I was in the presence of Miss Bill Gates."

"It doesn't take a genius to know these things!" Valerie exclaimed, although she was rather humored by Dylan's ignorance of these matters.

"Well, excuse me! I'm a saxophone player—I'm already brain-dead as it is."

Valerie laughed. It was partially true. Dylan liked to hold his sectionals near the flutes while they had sectionals. He did that to annoy them. And then he would instruct everyone to play the highest they could in their altissimo registers. And it would annoy the flutes to death. Sandy would always walk up to Dylan, red-faced and demand to know how this activity was improving the quality of the saxophone section. Dylan would then instruct everyone to get into block and had his section march straight into the flutes and crash their sectionals.

These thoughts were interrupted by the weird noises of the copy machine.

Dylan laughed. "If anyone who didn't know this was a copy machine heard these noises I wonder what they would think."

Valerie smiled. Then they were interrupted by a new voice—a voice Valerie had been waiting all night to hear.

"What are those strange noises coming from?" the voice asked from the band room.

"Oh, it's just the copy room," replied Jennifer's voice.

"Okay. So anyway, do you know where I might find a girl in your band named Valerie Blanche?" Aaron asked.

"Yeah, yeah," answered Sandy. "She's in the copy room with a guy named Dylan—but I'm starting to wonder if they're doing other things in there besides copying music."

"Oh," said Aaron in a dejected voice.

Valerie opened her mouth in disbelief. "The nerve!" she whispered to Dylan before heading for the door to set everyone straight.

Dylan caught her arm before she left. "Valerie! Don't you realize that Sandy _wants_ you to react? She's only doing this to get a rise out of you!"

"Well what do you suggest I do?" Valerie asked, irritated.

"Follow my lead," instructed Dylan.

By this time Valerie had caught a glimpse of Aaron's face. It did not look angry or frustrated or even disappointed. It just looked hurt. It looked as if he had just been slapped in the face. Valerie swallowed hard. Oh, how dearly she wanted to make Sandy pay… If only she was the senior section leader instead of Sandy, and Sandy was the wee freshman… Push-ups would be an eternal punishment.

By now the strange noises had finally stopped. Mr. Stilling entered the band room and went to check up on Dylan and Valerie.

"How's it going?" he inquired.

"Umm…" Dylan began, "the copy machine has a problem."

Mr. Stilling took a look. "Oh, wow. This is pretty bad."

Dylan gave his band director a sheepish grin. "Yeah."

"It's never been this bad before. It looks like it must have gotten pretty frozen. What did you do, keep pressing buttons hoping it would work again?"

"So, I'm gonna hand out these flute and piccolo parts." Dylan grabbed the stack of flute and piccolo parts and headed for the proper section leaders to distribute them. He pulled Valerie along with him.

"Hey, everyone!" he exclaimed when he entered the band room. "Well, the copy machine is broken, but luckily for Sandy and Jennifer, the flute parts were copied before it went berserk. Here you go," he said, handing the piccolo parts to Sandy and the flute parts to Jennifer.

Valerie said nothing. She just awkwardly stood there and tried to avoid looking at Aaron.

"Man, that sure was an experience in the copy room!" Dylan commented to Valerie.

"Umm…" Valerie began, not really sure what Dylan's plan was.

"Especially when Mr. Stilling joined the party," Dylan continued.

Finally catching on, Valerie grinned. "Yeah, a threesome is always better."

The room erupted in laughed that came from Dylan, Valerie, Aaron, and even Jennifer and her boyfriend. As for Sandy and Mr. Stilling, their faces were flushed crimson.

When the laughter finally subsided, Aaron's intense dark eyes met with Valerie's. "Would you mind if I could talk to you?"

Valerie nodded. "Of course. How come you're here so early?"

"I needed to talk to you, so I told my director I wouldn't be riding the bus over," Aaron explained as they exited the band room."

"Oh," Valerie stepped through the door as Aaron held it open for her.

"I'm sorry!" she said sincerely.

Aaron shook his head. He gazed at Valerie tenderly. "No, I'm sorry."


	12. Friendzoning

**Whew! This took awhile to update because I was at BAND CAMP! And Imma drum major! Woo! Anyway, caught up with my drum majorly responsibilities along with band camp being band camp, this was not my greatest priority but right now it is so here goes. Oh, and I recently adding a new word to my vocabulary the other day when the term "friend-zoning" was finally explained to me.**

Chapter 12 – Friend-zoning

Valerie walked beside Aaron, having no idea where they were going. Aaron glanced at her. He didn't know where they were headed either.

"Umm…" he began, his dark gray eyes staring into Valerie's green ones. "Is there a place where we can go and talk alone?"

"Hmm…" Valerie surveyed her surroundings. "We could use the soccer field," she suggested.

"Okay."

The two began walking towards the field in an awkward silence. Finally it was Aaron who broke it.

"So… umm…" Aaron scratched his head. "I just wanted to say that I'm really sorry about what happened at the DCI competition. I don't know what I was thinking. You probably saw me as a nice, normal friend and it was a miscommunication and I stormed off and left. I lost my phone at the stadium, though, and that's why I couldn't get in touch with you. I'm sorry."

"You lost your phone at the stadium?" Valerie inquired.

"Yeah," Aaron replied. "And I have a new number now. I can give it to you if you want, I guess. It was really stupid of me to act how I did. You were just trying to be nice and when I first saw you I thought, well… anyway I was being too pushy about something when you were just trying to be friends. Oh, here's my number." He pulled out his new phone.

_He thinks I'm friend-zoning him, huh? _ Valerie thought as she collected his phone number. She opened her mouth to say something, but no words came out.

"I'm really sorry, Valerie. I was being overly ambitious in my affections and, well, if you want we can move past this and be friends." Aaron held out a hand for Valerie to shake.

Valerie stood there for a second, wide-eyed.

_Come on, Valerie! Tell him the truth!_

_Me? In the romance department? Are you kidding?_

_If you don't say something, you'll miss your chance!_

_How do I tell him that I like him too?_

While Valerie's inner thoughts debated with themselves, Aaron hung his head.

"Look, I'm sorry about all this and I know your band doesn't like my band and vice versa. But in spite of all that, I managed to fall in… muster a certain kindness towards you. After the night of the DCI competition, I thought that maybe you didn't feel the same way about me as I did about you but maybe two talented musicians could still be friends and—"

"Is that really what you think?" Valerie was shocked to hear herself speak.

Aaron stared at her blankly. "What?"

Valerie gulped. _Be brave. _"I… You really think I felt that way?"

"You don't want to be friends then?" Aaron started to turn away.

"No, I mean…"

_Tell him how much he really means to you!_

_How?_

"Yes?" asked Aaron turning towards her with a flicker of hope on his face.

"…I mean… I do want to be friends."

The look of hope on Aaron's face dissolved, but he managed to muster a weak smile. "Okay. Why didn't you just say that to begin with?"

"I don't know," Valerie answered quite honestly.

"Okay, well, that's alright. So, umm… see you at the game?"

"See you." Valerie watched for a few seconds as Aaron slowly turned and walked away. Then, she turned towards the band room herself. She wondered if what she said might have been different if she had been Cici. Cici wouldn't have been shy. Cici would've honestly opened up right there and would have told Aaron the whole truth.

_The whole truth. _Valerie gasped. "I didn't tell him that I'm not dating Dylan!" she muttered to herself. She realized that now Aaron really thought that there was no chance of Valerie harboring any affection for him.

_I'm such an awkward klutz._

_Yes you are._

_Oh well, boys are overrated._

_Sure._

It was then and there when Valerie began to consider her experiences with members of the male gender. Middle school was middle school. Valerie dated a guy in, like, seventh grade but nobody really cared about it anymore because, after all, it was middle school. We'll talk about that more in a little bit, but besides that, Valerie had never given about boys. All she cared about was keeping her grades up and most importantly, practicing her flute.

The reason why Valerie tried to maintain an indifference towards those with a Y chromosome was because of Cici. There was a guy who Cici dated for, like, eternity in middle school. There was a crap-load of drama that came with that relationship. Cici would always go to Valerie in tears to vent about the recent thing that happened with her beloved boyfriend. At first, Valerie was sincerely sympathetic and patted her friend on the back. Then, it started to become super annoying and Valerie wished her friend could find someone else to bring her problems to. Valerie urged Cici to terminate the relationship, but Cici refused. Finally, the oboe player came to her senses and broke it off.

Valerie laughed as she remembered how much Cici had changed from middle to high school. Cici used to be a sensitive, emotional person. Now she was funny and enjoyable to be around, and was sometimes even a spaz. She had really matured so much.

Back to Valerie, after realizing what crap Cici had to put up with, she had decided not to involve herself in any dating whatsoever. The problem was that even though Cici had been in an unpleasant relationship, she had learned a skill that her little flute friend lacked: How to work with boys.

Valerie had always avoided guys. She could work with them on an academic or professional level, like when collaborating on a school project. She could work with them then. But when it came to casual conversations and getting along she really struggled.

Sure, befriending Dylan was a start. Raised as an only child, Valerie was finally realized how it felt to have an older brother. Dylan was becoming more and more associated with the duo of Valerie and Cici, and the two best friends were slowly evolving into the Three Musketeers.

But Valerie was clueless with boyfriend/girlfriend stuff. Back to middle school, there was a boy who did ask her out. He was a boy who Valerie had always admired. He sang in the school choir and had a milky tenor voice that could melt any girl's heart. But when they started dating, Valerie realized that, as naturally talented as the boy was, he didn't always want to talk about music like she did. And Valerie hated the long phone calls with him. They were complete wastes of time when Valerie could be practicing. It was a short fling that soon ended when the boy became frustrated at Valerie's lack of romantic enthusiasm.

That was the only boyfriend that Valerie ever had up to her current point.

And now there was Aaron. Valerie had been attracted to people before, like the choir kid in seventh grade, but she had never met anyone quite like him. She was unsure of how to respond to her feelings concerning him, so unfortunately for her, Aaron had no idea how the attractive, talented freshman actually felt.

**Honestly, I had no idea how this chapter would turn out. I had originally planned on having Valerie admit her feelings for Aaron, but as I began to type, I realized that that would not be something that she would do and I have to stay true to the character until she matures. I daresay I enjoyed writing this chapter, especially the last part where I explain Valerie's lack of love life. (As well as Cici's middle school drama.) I know that many authors base their main characters off of themselves, but I can honestly say that Valerie is nothing like me. She is her own person that I have engineered to breathe life into this story. The character that I closely relate to is actually Cici, who I am planning to write a sequel about when I finish this story. Oh! Also, I am considering beginning PD&DL drabbles. Because this story is told in third person limited, I feel like many of you readers would get a different understanding when I illustrate multiple viewpoints from different characters. Leave a review in the box and tell me what you think. Should I begin the drabbles? Would you all actually read them?**


	13. In Your Blood

**I'm back! I know it's been awhile, but between band, youth orchestra, and school, I really haven't had the time to touch Microsoft Word. Sorry. Oh, and I really did no planning for this chapter. So anyways, here goes.**

Chapter 13 – In Your Blood

Valerie frowned as her black and crimson uniform already began to cling to her in the sweaty September sun. She would make an attempt to peel it away from her body, but she was unable to do so, as she had already been called to attention. Using her peripherals, she saw Cici shake with excitement next to her in the parade block. The flute-playing oboist had been ever so thrilled for the first football game, but Valerie's heart just wasn't in it.

_I guess marching band doesn't really make me tick. I'm an orchestra and concert band person, _she thought to herself.

_TWEET! _The drum major whistle pulled Valerie out of her thoughts. _TWEET, TWEET, TWEET, TWEET! _She stepped off with the rest of her line as the block that was Maingrove High School Band marched towards the field for pregame. The tiny freshman was lost in the sea of uniforms as the band marched daintily past regular football game folk.

As the drumline began a cadence, Valerie heard one of her non-band fellow freshman classmates whisper to his friend, "Is that the band? Wow! They look… imperial."

Valerie straightened up as she marched and made even a greater effort to improve her roll-step and keep her toes pointed to the sky. She _was _imperial.

Up ahead, Valerie saw crowds of people immediately split as the band paraded through. It reminded her of the Bible story where Moses and the Israelites walked through the parted Red Sea.

"CLEAR THE WAY FOR THE BAND!" someone shouted. "THEY _WILL _RUN YOU OVER IF YOU DON'T!"

Valerie concentrated on maintaining her tough straight face, lest she allow a cocky grin to spread over it. She squared her shoulders as the band marched onto the field. One of the drum majors then proceeded to whistle for the band to halt.

"At ease! Now get ready for pregame!" hissed Peter as he and Allison walked to their spots.

Valerie found the thirty-five yard line and the people she was supposed to stand next to before going ahead and getting set. She waited for the next set of whistles before stepping off.

The next few minutes were a breeze. The "Star Spangled Banner" never sounded quite as lovely to Valerie, nor did her school's fight song sound quite as grand. When it was time to march off, Valerie was already on some sort of marching band high and felt like she could skip all the way to the top of the bleachers.

Stand tunes had never been so fun for the girl. They had always just been mere crowd pleasers will no real musical quality in them. But as she played in the stands, she was astonished to hear how much life and energy they had in them. The first two quarters were all too fast. Valerie learned quickly that Maingrove had a sorry excuse for a football team, as they were already being slaughtered by Brown Oaks with a lovely 35-0.

Richard, the clarinet section leader, patted Valerie on the back as he saw her eyes flick sadly over the scoreboard. "Get used to it. The football team is an embarrassment to our school. But it looks like we're ready to leave for halftime."

Halftime! Valerie couldn't believe she had nearly forgotten. Her heart raced excitedly as she stumbled down the steps of the stadium.

"Valerie!" Jennifer screamed. "Why didn't you come down with the rest of the flute section? You owe me thirty push-ups on Monday."

Valerie's wicked grin faded to a frown at Jennifer's words. _Well thanks for peeing in my bowl of Cheerios._

Just then Allison strode up behind them. "Give her a break, Jennifer. It's her first game!" The junior drum major smiled warmly and put her arm around Valerie. "You enjoying yourself yet?"

Valerie tried hard to wipe away her triumphant smile as she glanced over and saw Jennifer's pissed off scowl.

"Yes," she replied, then added quite candidly, "but at first I didn't think I would."

"But now you have it in your blood, don't you?" Allison asked.

"Huh?"

"Marching band. It's in your blood."

"Yes, I suppose it is."

"No, you _know _it is."

"Fine. Marching band is in my blood."

Allison nodded. "Good."

After warming up and tuning, the band members kneeled on the sidelines to watch the Brown Oaks Band perform. Their show was Latin American, and Valerie found it rather neat, but considering that Brown Oaks was the rival band for Maingrove, everyone else found negative things to say.

"That kid's flute angle is bad," whispered Liana, who was sitting next to Valerie.

"See that trombonist? He's out of step," muttered Dylan.

"Hey Allison, can't you see how their drum major is letting the drumline drag like that?" murmured Peter.

"Yeah," she replied, "And his pattern is a little sloppy."

Valerie shrugged. "Hey, but their piccolos are in tune!"

Everyone around her turned and stared at the naïve little freshman.

She shrunk back awkwardly. "Just saying."

Cici broke in for her friend. "I mean, man, if only _our _piccolos could play in tune!"

Valerie thought she saw Sandy look a little annoyed, but the section leader held her tongue at least.

Deciding it was best to keep her mouth shut, Valerie stared across the field. She spotted someone she didn't think was possible to recognize in uniform—Aaron. He held his flute perfectly parallel to the ground and he marched tall and proud. There was no way he would be able to see her because his eyes were glued to his drum major.

Valerie didn't think this would ever apply to anyone else, but Aaron looked hot in uniform. She blushed at her own thoughts and continued to follow him with her eyes for the rest of the performance.

Soon enough, it was time for the Maingrove Band to take the field themselves. Valerie felt everyone around her tense with the pressure to do better than Brown Oaks. However, as soon as the first movement was counted off, Valerie decided to leave the tension at opening set.

She moved through her charts as flawlessly as she could as a freshman. The music poured out of her flute in seamlessly shaped phrases. Before she realized it, the drum majors had switched podiums and the second movement began.

Valerie thought of the crowds of weary football fans up in the bleachers. The home fans must have been sick and tired of watching their team lose. The visiting fans must have been laughing and shaking their heads at how pitiful Maingrove was.

But Maingrove wasn't pitiful at all. Maingrove had a _band—_and a darn good one too. And they had an awesome flutist who was about to play a lovely solo.

_Don't play it for me—play it for everyone else,_ Valerie told herself, as she began to make her way to the microphone. In the past, Valerie had always played for herself. She had brought herself many musical honors in auditions, concerts, and competitions. She had been just a plain hot-shot flutist.

But that was never what music was ever about. Music was about the listener, not the musician.

Valerie sucked in a deep breath of fresh, nighttime air and filled up her lungs before letting it flood into the first note of her solo. She heard her own sound as it was emptied into the stands and was struck by the richness of it. The stadium, which had been so full of chatter and couldn't care less about the band before, now had grown silent. Valerie relished every pitch of the solo and couldn't believe when it was actually over. As she walked back to her place, she heard the stadium roar with applause.

_Put that in your juice-boxes, Brown Oaks._

As Valerie reached her correct spot, she thought she might have glimpsed a pair of dark gray eyes burning steadily into her.

The show had ended. The band exited the field. Any feelings of nonchalance that Valerie might have had before the game were replaced by overwhelming pride. Marching band was in her blood.


	14. Plans

**Chapter 14 – Plans**

Off the field, Valerie was so overwhelmed that she hardly knew what to do next. She dizzily pulled herself into the stadium and attached her flip folder to her left arm. A hand grasped her shoulder. It was Liana.

"Not now, girlie. Third quarter is our break, but just remember to be back here at least two minutes before the buzzer sounds for fourth. By the way, _great _job! Your solo was amazing. I was behind you for a few charts in the opener, and you had a terrific posture and nice footwork."

"Thank you," Valerie responded bashfully. Then she added, "I hope you're section leader next year."

Liana beamed. "Really? I never really thought I'd ever try out."

"Why not?"

"Well, I don't know. I'm not that great of a flutist."

"You're too hard on yourself. You're better than you think. Really," Valerie assured. Then she gave a whimsical grin. "You know, for an Asian, I'd expect you to be a bit more confident."

Liana laughed. "I get that all the time." Her face darkened. "Last year as a freshman, Sandy wasn't a section leader, but she acted like one anyway. Jennifer was alright, I guess. As a matter of fact, Jennifer really didn't use to be bad at all. She was quiet."

Valerie snorted. "Hard to imagine now."

"Yes, but she was. Anyway, on my first day of band camp, Sandy told me I couldn't play. I went home in tears and told my parents I wanted to quit band, but they wouldn't let me. They told me that if I started anything, I had to finish it. I'm glad they made me stay in band, because I don't think I would have ever been happy without it. Although it's true that there are times I am not happy in it, especially in flute sectionals, everything else about it feels so positive."

"So, after Sandy commented on your musical abilities, you never again felt confident in your playing?" Valerie guessed.

"I suppose that's why," Liana shrugged.

"Well, since she was _very _wrong, _now_ will you consider going for section leader next year? I mean, I know you'll only be a junior next year, but none of next year's flute seniors really seem up for the job. None of them love band as much as you."

"Only under one condition."

"What is that?"

"You'll run for co-section leader with me."

Valerie gaped. "Me? Why? I'll be a sophomore! There aren't any sophomore section leaders!"

"Doesn't mean there won't be. Look, the reason why there aren't any sophomore section leaders in this band is because it is very hard to get upperclassmen to respect them. But look at you! Everyone loves you! Well…. Besides two seniors, that is. Other than that, though, the whole flute section looks up to you! Whenever they have a question about music, they come to _you! _Not Sandy or Jennifer, because they're too intimidating. Don't you see? You're like the perfect leader! You aren't intimidating, but you are still serious about what you do, and everyone respects you because of it. Plus you're only a freshman, so that's saying something."

Valerie was silent.

"Please?" Liana implored. "There's no harm in running. I promise I'll run if you run. And only if you run."

"I'll think about it."

The sophomore grinned. "Thanks, Valerie. I would love to rule this section by your side. Now you should go enjoy yourself for the rest of the quarter. You deserve it."

"Okay." Valerie turned to leave.

"Oh, and by 'enjoy yourself,' I mean, why don't you go talk to that hot flute guy who's had his eyes on you since pregame."

The petite freshman felt her cheeks heat up. Then she swallowed. "You know, as a matter of fact, I think I will."


End file.
